A View of Mount Fuji

Check out that peak! 

Andrea and I had no idea how rare it is to get a good view of Mount Fuji when we booked our outing to gawk at the peak. Due to the mountain's 12,000+ foot elevation, moist air frequently forms dense saucer-shaped clouds and fog around the summit. And when I say "frequently," I mean around 285 days a year. It would have been a bummer to hire a guide to drive us more than an hour away from Tokyo to see fog. Happily, we got a good view of the mountain in addition to the chance to explore the area. 

I'll start with a couple of fun facts about Mount Fuji. Here's perhaps the craziest one. Each year, a few hardy couples get married at Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, the okumiya shrine at the top of the mountain. (In case you're not up on your East Asian religions, an okumiya is the interior sanctuary of a Shinto shrine and is typically built on a sacred mountain or in a remote part of a forest near the main shrine.) The wedding party and up to 10 of their best (and most athletic friends) hike to the summit for the ceremony. Talk about commitment. 

In a somewhat related point, women used to be forbidden from climbing Mount Fuji. Why, you might ask? The prohibition related in part to a superstition that Konohana-sakuya-hime, the female goddess of Mount Fuji, would become jealous of the beauty of the female climbers and erupt in a spurt of anger. Then there was the concern that female climbers would distract the men from the spiritual nature of their journey. Insert your own snarky comment here. Now back to Andrea's and my visit. 

Oishi Park, located on Lake Kawaguchi, served as our viewing spot. Yes, it was a bit crowded with gawking tourists. But it was also home to these beautiful kochia bushes. I enjoyed seeing them almost as much as taking in Mount Fuji. What can I say? I'm a pink person. 

Oishi Park offers more than just a view of Mount Fuji. We also took in Churieto Pagoda, our first pagoda of the trip. The Pagoda is part of the Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine complex, which I don't think we visited. (I was pretty jetlagged at that point.) I do, however, remember the 400 step climb to get up close and personal with the Pagoda. 

Chureito Pagoda

Pagodas are Buddhist structures that typically have three or five stories. The five-stories of pagodas such as this one represent the Buddhist elements of the universe (in decreasing order of size): earth, water, fire, wind and space/void. (FYI, the term "space/void" means the ultimate realization of enlightenment because the ego has dissolved and you are left with pure potential.) In addition to being a "regular" pagoda, Chureito Pagoda is a peace shrine built to honor local citizens who died in wars occurring from the late 19th century through WWII. It emitted a feeling of serenity despite the crowd. 

On our way up, we stopped at a ritual cleansing station, a new experience for me (although it bears some relationship to the holy water stations you dip your fingers in when entering a Catholic church). I appreciated the instruction sheet that explained both the process and its meaning. It began as follows: "Sins and impurities, invisible to others, attach to us in the course of daily life. So, before approaching the shrine, you must first cleanse yourself of them in holy water. You can then present yourself to the gods and pray without falsehood or deceit." It's worth noting that most people engaged in the ritual instead of bypassing it in their quest to get to the top for a good photo. There was plenty of time for that. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, a bit of commercialism made its way onto the grounds of Oishi Park. While there weren't vendors selling Mount Fuji tshirts, you could buy some Fuji apples to snack on during the trip back to your hotel. Okay, I thought, that kind of makes sense. But some research revealed that Fuji apples are not indigenous to the area around Mount Fuji. Instead, they originated in Fujisaki, a town almost 300 miles away. We opted instead for lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant where we sat somewhat awkwardly on the floor. It was fun. 

Our visit to Mount Fuji was a great addition to our Overseas Adventure Travel itinerary. I recommend it if you're in the area - lol. Next up: Making Washi Paper and Sushi.